The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

Walmart is the largest retailer in the country, which means that there are inevitably a number of the store’s customers who don’t use credit or debit cards. In the checkout aisle, that’s not a problem because cash is always an option, but the lack of plastic keeps these shoppers from buying anything online. Walmart thinks it may have found a compromise that could resolve that issue.

Called “Pay With Cash,” the program would allow the approximately 20% of Walmart customers who lack bank accounts or credit cards to reserve products for pick-up online and then pick them up at a nearby Walmart, where they would, as the name suggests, pay with cash.

The program, which starts next month, is just one of several things Walmart is trying to boost its online business as Amazon and other e-tailers nip at the company’s heels.

Bloomberg reports that the company has been internally using the slogan “Anywhere, Anytime” to describe its goal for Walmart.com’s future.

The chain has had its “site-to-store” pick-up option available for some time, and it wants to make a marketing push on same-day, in-store pick-up as a way to attract shoppers who would otherwise choose Amazon because it doesn’t charge sales tax in most states (though you are still obligated to pay it if your state charges sales tax).

Walmart is also working on something called “Endless Aisle,” that would allow customers to place orders on their smartphones for out-of-stock items in stores.

According to Bloomberg, Walmart was still the top retail destination for holiday shopping, with 53% of U.S. shoppers visiting the stores this past season. However, that number is down 6% from 2009, while the number of people doing holiday shopping at Amazon has jumped from 38% to 46% during the same period.